Pages

6.16.2010

Durhammmmmmmm: An Abbreviated Restaurant Guide

Having grown up in Durham, North Carolina, I admit I have a soft spot for the town. Low Southern sky, tall brick tobacco warehouses, steamy summers...

In recent years, the city has really cleaned itself up. Downtown is (finally) looking put together and beautiful, and there are many more things to do and see and...eat.

Despite being a small city in the South, Durham has an incredible wealth of fantastic restaurants. My ultimate realization of this came in April, when I opened my Wednesday New York Times to get my weekly dose of food writing (Mark Bittman is a favorite). The caption beneath a huge picture of a delicious meal from on the front page exclaimed: "Durham, a Tobacco Town, Turns to Local Food". Beneath the photo, I noticed the restaurant's name: Watt's Grocery. One of my absolute favorites! Lunch is fairly priced (between $8-$12 for unbelievable gourmet farm-to-table meals...) and always unique and delicious thanks to NC-born chef Amy Tournquist. In the back of the Dining section was another full page of color pictures of Watt's and another Durham restaurant.

Watt's isn't the only place to pick up incredible food in Durham, and it can be found all over the city. My favorite time to eat out is at lunch--a cold glass of iced tea (whether you like it sweet,"unsweet" or a combination of the two) becomes the perfect companion to meal and sun.

In Durham, you don't necessarily have to sit down to get amazing food...sometimes getting takeout or take-home can prove just as rewarding.

The Durham Farmer's Market (Saturday morning and Wednesday afternoon) has grown into an incredible place to find the best foods as well as fresh fruits and vegetables (and meat and cheese and eggs and bread and...the list goes on!).